Messages - bj47

Thank you! The hard part is getting start-up funds--most places won't just fund an idea, unfortunately. That's why it would be really great if as many people as possible from the LSD community could vote for The Generation Project on ideablob.com ... $10,000 is not a lot of money to some more established places, but it really would mean the world to us.

Well...I am starting a new kind of charity that I think is very cool...and as far as I can tell, totally unprecedented. Also, full disclosure: I want you guys' advice, and I also need you guys to help...but don't worry...I'm not asking for money or anything

My charity's name is The Generation Project, and the idea is this: Instead of just writing a check to an organization and letting that organization decide what to do with your money, I want to give people the opportunity to design gifts for high-need children based on their own passions and priorities. E.g, future lawyers like us might design and fund a mock trial program at an inner-city high school, while a musician might decide to donate drum sets to kids at an elementary school.

Post below to tell me what you think of the idea or if you have any questions/critiques/want to reprimand me for not posting during law school. (Also, check out www.thegenerationproject.org. It is our rudimentary website).

Now for the help part: Through August 31st, we are currently finalists in a contest at ideablob.com. If we get more votes than the other finalists, we'll win $10,000. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help us out. It takes two minutes and doesn't cost a dime. To vote:

Well...I am starting a new kind of charity that I think is very cool...and as far as I can tell, totally unprecedented. Also, full disclosure: I want you guys' advice, and I also need you guys to help...but don't worry...I'm not asking for money or anything

My charity's name is The Generation Project, and the idea is this: Instead of just writing a check to an organization and letting that organization decide what to do with your money, I want to give people the opportunity to design gifts for high-need children based on their own passions and priorities. E.g, future lawyers like us might design and fund a mock trial program at an inner-city high school, while a musician might decide to donate drum sets to kids at an elementary school.

Post below to tell me what you think of the idea or if you have any questions/critiques/want to reprimand me for not posting during law school. (Also, check out www.thegenerationproject.org. It is our rudimentary website).

Now for the help part: Through August 31st, we are currently finalists in a contest at ideablob.com. If we get more votes than the other finalists, we'll win $10,000. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help us out. It takes two minutes and doesn't cost a dime. To vote:

Most people who do TFA are trying to make themselves look better for top schools. Unless you want to go into public interest law, I see no point in putting off law school for it--you're already in to the top schools.

However, if you decide you want to do it later on, you don't have to pay any student loans during that time.

I have a couple of friends who did it. Some loved it, some hated it. But they were all doing it so that they could get into the top grad programs they could. Many wound up hating children and being jaded against the low-income areas they worked in.

I will be joining Teach for America next fall, and I can assure you that I'm not doing it to "make myself look better" to top schools. I've already gotten into (and received a two-year deferral from) a t10 that was one of my top choices, a school for which I was a borderline candidate. I think I honestly would have turned down their offer of admission if they hadn't deferred me, and let my chips fall where they may in a future admissions cycle. I'm not necessarily planning on going into public interest law, either. It's just that now is a time in my life when I think I can do something to help solve issues of educational inequality.

Those that join Teach for America so that law schools will "look better" upon them are joining it for all the wrong reasons. Quite frankly, this probably explains why so many of these teachers fail. If you're not truly committed to solving these educational problems--and you're just looking at it as a resume padder on the way to law school--I can't imagine having the passion and patience to sticking out a two-year commitment. Luckily, the OP doesn't seem to be looking at this as a law-school resume padder, since she's already into some of the very best schools in the country.

Nobody ever says it's going to be easy. As an earlier poster said, if it was easy, there wouldn't be a problem. But if you have the passion and commitment to education--and you know that it's going to be a basically hellishly tough experience--why not spend these two years of your life doing something good for others?

By the way, I'm a campus campaign manager for TFA at my school as well. I agree that they give you a really rosy picture of TFA. But I'm heartened by the fact that everybody working above us is pretty much a Teach for America alum themselves. After going through 2+ years in the classroom, they're still idealistic enough about the movement to continue working for it.

I don't think it's a yield-protecting thing in the traditional sense of the word. Chiashu gave me like a 24% chance of getting into Chicago. At Chicago, I would think that yield protection is only for those students that would definitely get into one of the higher ranked schools. Right now, neither myself or the OP are anything close to locks at HYS.

It may, however, simply be a pool of applicants that they would like to have at their school but don't want to bother admitting if they don't think they'll attend. The OP would bring their 25/75 admitted GPA down, but the 25/75 admitted LSAT up. I, on the other hand, would bring their 25/75 LSAT down, but their 25/75 GPA up. In other words, there's no compelling reason to admit either one of us if we're not going to attend their school. So they give us these hoops to jump through to ensure that we are still interested in attending the University of Chicago.

That, by the way, is really wishful thinking on my part. I'd still much rather be in your shoes with a 3.4/176 than in my own with a 3.84/167. In any case, best of luck to you.

It's not a yield-protection thing. At least I don't think it is. I got the "hold" thing too, and my numbers are less than stellar for Chicago (3.84, 167). I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of it. Is it a waitlist?

Honestly, here's the thing: When you get accepted somewhere, you just want to jump on a roof and shout it to the entire world. Unfortunately, in the real world, acting in this manner is a social no-no. So you do the next best thing: You go on the Internet and create a post shouting about how you got accepted.

There's nothing wrong with it, it's just human nature. And what better place to find an appreciative audience than a message board filled with people who are going through the same stress that you are?

Congrats on your acceptance. Georgetown is a fantastic school and DC is an awesome city.

Congrats.. I was the biggest Wolverine fan in the early 90s growing up with Desmond Howard and Wheatly in football, and the Fab Five in bball. I'm grappling over Gtown and Michigan right now. I would love to be in DC for the next 3 years, but Michigan is a great school. Can you tell me what Ann Arbor is like? Im from the Pacific NW, and I start freezing at 40 degree temp... Im just hoping I wouldnt die during the winter at Michigan.

I'm not going to lie...it gets cold in Michigan during January and February. But Ann Arbor is an absolutely fantastic town. Growing up there, I didn't really appreciate it until I went away to college.

The campus area is kind of like the Georgetown neighborhood in Washington (not where the law center is, the actual neighborhood)--except it's far less expensive. Really, Ann Arbor can accomodate you no matter what you enjoy. There's trendy stores, chill coffee shops, some good bars, fantastic ethnic food, and a whole mess of sorta eclectic local institutions. Yet even though Ann Arbor has just about everything you could want in a city, it really has quite a chill vibe. As a general rule, people are really friendly. This, perhaps, is best epitomized by the fact that Ann Arbor is a "free keg" town, meaning that random people can just show up to any college party on a Friday night and drink for free.

On football Saturdays the whole city grinds to a standstill. If you walk through the streets you might literally see two people. Football games in Ann Arbor are not quite life-or-death propositions, but in that rare event of a Michigan loss, a palpable gloom is cast over the city.

Hope this helps...if you have any more questions I'd be happy to try and help you out. Go blue!